


A Piano Man Christmas

by xhookswenchx (ReluctantPrincess)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 22:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13133706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReluctantPrincess/pseuds/xhookswenchx
Summary: The Jones brothers can’t stop fighting. What happens when their wives intervene?





	A Piano Man Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> For: ilovemesomekillianjones

 

Killian and Liam had spent most of the holiday season arguing. It started just as Thanksgiving ended, and Christmas season officially began.

First, it was the trees. The brothers were able to agree on one thing. Their homes needed real Christmas trees. Bringing them in, however, was a nightmare. Neither Emma nor Elsa had any sort of preference as to where the tree went, but Liam and Killian spent the better part of an hour in each house bickering about the placement. Each complaining that “it’s my bloody house, I’ll put it where I want!”

“I’m putting coal in his stocking,” Emma grumbled.

The arguments got worse after that. Killian had an accident while trying to hang the Christmas lights, and Liam complained when Elsa volunteered him to finish the job. Killian griped about a week later, he found himself helping Liam with his lights.

“So much for brotherly love,” Elsa sighed. She and Emma had managed to escape the war zone by taking Adelaide and Henry to the skating rink. They were currently keeping little Liam (and themselves) entertained by offering him tastes of whipped cream off their hot chocolates.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into them,” Emma said. “I mean, I get that they’re both adamant about making a great, big Christmas, but the fighting has gotten out of hand.”

It wasn’t like the brothers to be at each other’s throats. Not like this.

“Maybe it’s just the stress of the holiday season, on top of the new business that’s gotten them all worked up.” Elsa suggested.

Right. Killian and Liam had gone in together to bring a music store into Storybrooke. It had been a tough few months, figuring out what building would be best, which instruments to stock it with, and finding teachers to help offer music lessons. They weren’t set to open until after the new year, but already there was a waiting list for students, and a backorder list that seemed a mile long.

Emma felt it was safe to say that the venture was trying for even the strongest of brotherly bonds.

Suddenly, Elsa began giggling. “I have an idea,” she said. “Remember that time Adelaide and Henry were just about to have an all out brawl right before Halloween?”

HOw could she forget? Granted, she couldn’t remember the reason the fight started, but she had no trouble recalling Henry taking a flying leap at his sister, intent on pummeling her for whatever offense she’d committed.

“The get-along shirt?” Emma asked, realizing what Elsa was getting at. “The guys will never go for that.”

“So we trick them into it,” Elsa shrugged. “Leave the shirt making to me. I’ll let you know when it’s time to wrangle up the boys.”

* * *

 

“What’s going on, love?” Killian asked as Emma secured the blindfold.

“It’s a surprise,” she said, for what felt like the millionth time.

Elsa had called her the night before with the plan. She and Liam were coming over for Christmas Eve cookies and hot chocolate so they could exchange gifts. Her sister-in-law had concocted the same story for Liam, insisting there was a surprise to be had.

When Elsa sent a text stating that she and Liam were at the front door, Emma led Killian out into the living room. There was a bit of finagling when it came to getting Liam into the house, and then, getting both of them into the shirt, but somehow, it all worked out.

“What the bloody hell is this?” Killian shouted when the blindfold came off.

Liam didn’t seem all that pleased with the current situation he’d found himself in either.

“Elsa and I felt that you two needed a little reminder this season,” Emma stated.

“A reminder of what?” Killian and Liam asked a just about the same time.

“That you two are brothers, and that you should be thankful that you have one another,” Elsa said. “You’ve spent the entire season arguing and have forgotten what’s really important.”

“So you’re treating us like we’re children?” Killian asked.

“Only because you’ve been acting like children,” Emma remarked. “Addie! Henry! Are you two ready to open presents?” She laughed when Killian whined about the kids seeing him, then went off to retrieve little Liam.

The brothers begged to be let out of their prison, and even made a couple attempts to escape, but it was of no use. “Start getting along, and we’ll let you out,” Elsa said.

Adelaide and Henry came scrambling into the room, peals of laughter escaping them when they saw their father and uncle wearing a “get along” shirt.

“Dada!!!!” Liam squealed in delight. He squirmed in Emma’s arms, not completely understanding the situation, but definitely enjoying joining in the laughter of his older siblings. Emma couldn’t help but giggle at Killian’s pout.

“Why don’t we just open presents?” Liam muttered.

The children wholeheartedly agreed, more than excited about the fact that they would be allowed to open more than one tonight.

As they sat down near the tree, Emma began gathering the gifts for Liam and Elsa, while Elsa retrieved a bag filled with their presents. After everything had been passed out, Killian gave the go-ahead, and the kids started ripping into their presents. Emma and Elsa took a little more time with theirs, and Killian and Liam struggled.

They were still struggling when Emma brought out the cookies and hot chocolate. The struggles turned into quiet bickering, each man eyeing his wife to see if she could hear. Their eyes darted quickly back to their unopened gifts after seeing their wives’ disapproving looks.

“This is bloody ridiculous,” Liam finally stated. “How are we supposed to enjoy Christmas when we’re tangled up in this damned shirt?”

“You just gotta get along, Uncle Liam,” Henry said. “Not even a lot. Just like ten minutes.”

Emma couldn’t help but giggle at her son’s comment. “Why don’t we watch a movie?” she suggested, hoping to distract the kids from the ridiculous spectacle her husband and brother-in-law were making of themselves. “You two,” she said to the brothers, “can stay up here.”

“You can’t just leave us here, Swan,” Killian complained. “How are we supposed to spend Christmas Eve with our family if we’ve been put into the proverbial corner?”

“Maybe your family doesn’t want to listen to your bickering anymore,” Emma said. “Seriously. It’s your own fault you’re stuck up here.” She stood and turned her attention back to the children, ignoring Killian’s continued grumbling. “Come on guys. Movies in the den!”

* * *

 

“This is all your fault,” Killian accused Liam. “If you hadn’t been so bloody stubborn about everything, we wouldn’t be stuck up here. I’m missing out on Liam’s first Christmas!”

“I’m missing out too!” Liam shouted back. “And you’re just as stubborn, so don’t try and blame me for everything.”

They both fell silent and listened to the sounds of the children playing in the next room. “I suppose we’re both to blame,” Liam finally said.

“Aye,” Killian sighed. “We’ve been acting like children.”

“We haven’t even been able to open our presents,” Liam chuckled, lifting the small box off of his lap. “Since we’re stuck up here anyway, why don’t we try and help each other out with that?”

“Could be worth a shot,” Killian shrugged. “You first.”

Working together, they managed to tear off the wrapping, and with a little struggle, they opened the boxes. “Bloody hell,” Killian whispered when he noticed the contents of each box was  similar. He pulled out a little onesie out of his box, and grinned at the piano printed across the top. Liam’s box contained a onesie sporting a picture of an ice cream cone.

“We’re morons,” Liam groaned. “They probably planned this whole reveal out, and we’ve ruined it.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘morons’,” Elsa said softly. “Just a little bull-headed.”

The sudden interruption made the brothers jump. Of course they were being watched.

“And I wouldn’t say you’ve ruined everything either,” Emma added. “Granted, the fighting was fairly obnoxious, but I think in the end, it worked out in our favor. Now we can celebrate without all the paper being thrown around the room.”

“Are we really having a baby?” Liam asked Elsa, who nodded. He’d long forgotten about the shirt, and managed to throw Killian off balance when he reached for his wife.

“Maybe we should fix this shirt problem,” Emma laughed. “I think you two have learned your lesson.”

“Are we having a baby too?” Killian asked, his voice slightly muffled by the shirt the girls were pulling off of them. “Or is this some strange way of telling me I’m going to be an uncle?”

“We’re having a baby too,” Emma said. When the brothers were finally freed from the shirt, his heart melted when he saw the huge grin on Emma’s face. “There’s more to the presents,” she said. “Check under the tissue paper.”

Killian and Liam removed the last bits of paper from the boxes and were delighted when they found the second part of their gifts:

Mistletoe.


End file.
